When most Edison residents think of solar plus storage, they dream about disconnecting the utility power company and enjoying green energy and savings from their PV system. However, that’s generally not how solar systems work. Typically, solar systems are tied to the grid to maximize power supply stability and net metering savings for homeowners. Utility companies benefit from this arrangement by drawing power from the residential solar installations, especially during peak-demand hours. Everyone wins.
So, why should you even bother to install a battery?
The answer to this question is twofold – battery backup during outages and financial incentives.
Backup Power
Traditionally, solar installations are designed to disconnect the power supply to homes when there’s a power outage. This practice prevents the possibility of electricity accidentally making its way into the power lines and hazarding the life of anyone working on the grid.
With Platinum+ from Green Power Energy, your solar array will power your home in an outage with a microgrid made possible through Enphase’s IQ8+ Microinverters and the Enpower Smartswitch™. This means that the solar modules can produce electricity to power your home directly in an outage by creating an onsite microgrid.
Supplementing this innovative microgrid is Enphase’s Encharge™, a solar-powered battery that can supply additional power to the home throughout the day and during the night. By combining the Enpower Smartswitch™ with Enphase’s Encharge™ Battery, there are far fewer cycles of the battery than in a standard Solar Plus Storage system without a microgrid component. This means you can power more for longer while increasing the lifespan of your battery system.Â
Financial Incentives
If you ever wanted to buy a battery backup for your home, this is the best time to do it. Merely by coupling battery storage to your solar array, you can save as much as 26% of its price with a federal solar tax credit. And, you must hurry. The tax credit is set to decrease to 22% starting in 2023.
You also get exemptions on sales taxes and property taxes resulting from the purchase of the battery backup. In essence, you pay only a fraction of the cost of the battery.
Things to Consider When Choosing Battery Storage
Some of the standard variables in play are brand name, product specifications, storage capacity, quality and reliability of the product, power requirements of your home, and online reviews.
If possible, ask your solar installer to share some references of homeowners who installed the same products, so that you can independently verify the real-world performance of those products.
